Financial Times Mandate articles from May 2008

Financial Times Mandate archives from May 2008

Recent investors liable to pull out.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Martin Steward Fitch Ratings has warned that second thoughts from recent fund of hedge fund investors could potentially see $50bn (i 1/232bn) pulled from the hedge fund industry, laying bare the liquidity mismatches that have...

Pensions buyouts an opportunity.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Martin Steward The buyout by Paternoster of the Lonmin Superannuation Scheme and buy-in by Norwich Union of Friends Provident's DB scheme are indicative of the current scramble for business which, according to a new report from...

Market analysis - Europe.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Jerome Booth Central European currencies and bonds look more attractive than equities. The pegged and otherwise partially fixed exchange rates common across emerging markets, but not in Central Europe, have like a corset squeezed...

In brief.
May 1, 2008... The cost of regulation at the top 100 financial services institutions could rise to GBP50bn (i 1/263bn) by 2010, according to research by Deloitte. Capital adequacy and market practice directives are already forcing significant investment, and...

EFG Hermes aims to exploit saudi market.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Guest Middle Eastern fund manager EFG Hermes is looking to exploit the inefficiencies of the Gulf's largest market with its new Saudi Equity Fund, which is currently raising funds from European and North American investors....

Market analysis - North America.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Neil Michael The significant increase in volatility that has taken place in the US equity markets in the last few months has started to open up a number of opportunities. On a valuation basis, US equities are the cheapest they've...

Investors to switch off taps.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Martin Steward John Moulton, managing partner at mid-market leveraged buy-out (LBO) specialist Alchemy Partners, has predicted a significant slow-down in institutional allocations to private equity, and warned of difficulties...

Market analysis - South America.
May 1, 2008... Byline: John Cleary For international investors in particular, South American stock markets have achieved impressive returns over the past 12 months. But what is more surprising is that as much as 50 per cent of these returns have been due...

Market analysis - Asia Pacific.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Yong Moon Kim In line with their global counterparts, Asian equity markets have suffered year to date, with the credit crunch and US recessionary fears taking their toll. In fact, so far this year Asian equities have actually...

Growth despite the downturn.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Guest The average size of hedge funds has increased dramatically over the past two years, despite many suffering from recent volatility and exposure to credit markets, according to a new report from the Tabb Group. ...

Fund managers stand to profit from sovereign wealth.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Henry Smith Sovereign wealth funds have been advised that if they want to avoid accusations of political interference, they should ditch direct investing and adopt the fund management route instead. Speaking at last month's...

Focus on individual the key to staff motivation.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Henry Smith The pursuit of sustainable outperformance or 'alpha' has driven many asset management companies to adopt a multi-boutique operating model. However, due to poor execution, some have yet to reap the hoped-for benefits....

Leader - Give China credit where it's due.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Henry Smith Welcome to your new-look FT Mandate! We have freshened up the format to bring you brighter, cleaner pages, without compromising on the breadth or depth of our coverage. Each issue will still feature interviews with...

The Consulting Room - No active constraints.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Lennox Hartman More than 80 per cent of equity manager selections by Hewitt's clients in 2007 opted for an unconstrained approach to investing. Unconstrained investing refers to a style of fund management whose focus is all...

The Bender Agenda - Foreign delicacies for the German market.
May 1, 2008... Germany's i 1/2540bn investment industry - servicing the needs of an 80m population - is already stifled by well-placed local groups including DWS, Cominvest, and the funds arm of Deka. Troubled markets, fixed income outflows of i 1/230bn over...

Soapbox - Can we still provide for ourselves?
May 1, 2008... Byline: Burkhard Varnholt I have written for several years about the looming commodity price rises. Now rising food prices are causing riots from Cairo to Mexico. Virtually all food prices have begun to go up and are being felt everywhere....

The chief - A safe pair of hands.(Company overview)
May 1, 2008... Byline: Nat Mankelow Returning to his hometown of Chicago after seven years in London, Steve Potter, the new president of Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), the $760bn (i 1/2490bn, GBP390bn) multi asset class manager of Northern...

Living within set limits.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Nat Mankelow You would think being a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) on the outside and a pension fund on the inside would present identity issues for the i 1/213bn ($20.2, GBP10.5bn) Valtion Elakerahasto (VER). But Timo Loyttyniemi,...

Cover story - Tapping new wealth.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Henry Smith Global fund managers are pouring into the Asia-Pacific region in the hope of capitalising on a growing number of lucrative investment opportunities. From India to Australia, joint ventures have been forged with local...

Cover story - Fund administration - Competition rife for share of Asian market.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Henry Smith As domestic and cross-border investment flows gather volume and momentum in the Asia-Pacific region, the world's largest custodians are competing to grab a lucrative slice of fund servicing business from both local and...

Portfolio risk management - Investors continue to focus on risk control.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Ceri Jones There is no slowdown in the diversification story as investors look to minimise risk, and asset opportunities continue to widen. Some of the biggest barriers to diversification are slowly dissolving - emerging markets...

Germany - Germany's capital market looks to linkers headline.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Nat Mankelow For an economy which has roots deeply entwined with the destructive nature of inflation, it may come as a surprise to hear that Germany's capital market is becoming increasingly active in the development of an...

Equity capital markets - Reforms making Kazakhstan attractive.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Nat Mankelow When Kase, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange based in Almaty, the country's financial capital, said it was looking to raise much needed cash to develop the country's capital market infrastructure, few were surprised by the...

Hedge funds - Overcoming Spain's natural conservatism headline.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Martin Steward Standing in Madrid's Las Ventas bullring - or indeed the nearby Museo Taurino, where you can see the blood-stained bolero worn by the legendary Manolete when he was gored to death in 1947 - you'd be forgiven for...

Exchange-traded funds - ETF platform - A wide variety of uses.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Ceri Jones Recent research by iShares shows that over half of investors are using exchange-traded funds as asset allocation tools. The most obvious manifestation is those multi-manager operations and diversified growth funds that...

Euro High-Yield Bonds - Mavericks on top.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Martin Steward Given recent market behaviour, it is not surprising that the funds topping our 12-month league tables often turn out to be the mavericks in their sector. With high-yield spreads trading at historic tights on the eve...

Electronic trading - The next generation of the stock exchange.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Guest Nine months ago the Equiduct story seemed to have come to an ignominious end. The trading platform, which had planned to resurrect the old Easdaq stock exchange infrastructure to take part in the new post-MiFID era of...

Target 2 securities - CSDs try to prepare for uncertain future.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Guest There is a long five years before the European Central Bank's Target 2 Securities, which looks to create a single settlement layer for cross-border securities transactions in Europe, comes to pass. At the same time, the...

Energy trading - Dubai's grand plans for energy trading.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Guest Doubters of the Emirate of Dubai's ambition to take its place on the world stage would do well to look from the gateway of the Dubai International Financial Centre towards the Burj Dubai development. Featuring the...

Fund administrator's diary - Ethical diversification.
May 1, 2008... Byline: Herve Schunke The industrial sector is subject to increasing environmental pressures, especially heavy industries such as cement, energy, glass and steel, which together are responsible for some 45 per cent of carbon dioxide...